Saturday, July 21, 2007

You have the wrong number...

Note...names have been changed to protect...well, me and B.

Ring, Ring

"Tracy?" she asked."No, I'm sorry you have the wrong number.""Oh, I'm sorry," she said.*click*

Ring, Ring"Hello?" I said."Hi, I know I have the wrong number, but have you had this number for a while?" the same voice as before asked me."Um, I've had this number for a year. What number are you calling?" I said."555-1234. I'm looking for B Johnson," she said. "Well, B Johnson lives here. He's my husband," I said."So, this is Tracy then, right?" she said."No, I don't know any Tracy Johnson," I said."Oh, well, um, this is Lena, B Johnson's daughter," she said."B doesn't have a daughter," I said."Um, ok then, I'm sorry. Bye," and she hung up.

I sat there surprised for a minute, and then I went downstairs to ask B about his daughter. We chuckled about it for a minute...and we realized that it was kinda weird that there's another B Johnson in our town.

A few minutes later I started thinking about the conversation I had with Lena. It seemed kind of weird that she was calling numbers out of the phone book looking for her dad. And I realized that I hadn't been terribly nice or helpful to her on the phone. And even though I don't know of any other B Johnson who is related to us, I could offer to help her if she needed it.

So, I dialed *69 to get her back (I'm too cheap to pay for caller i.d.). When she answered, I apologized for not being more helpful. She told me that her dad had recently moved and she didn't have his new number. She didn't know where his new house was either. She said that she found our number in the phone book and thought that our initials (mine and B's) stood for her dad's first and middle names -- which just so happen to be the SAME first and middle name of my husband. And then I asked how old her dad was...39, she said...which is a couple years older than B.

She said that she's often been asked what her dad's name is, and when she says, "B," they say, "Oh, from Small Town, Kansas?" She always answers no because that would be MY B who is from Small Town, Kansas.

I felt bad that I couldn't help her. But, how weird is it that there's another guy in our town with the exact same name as B?!

And, no, B really doesn't have a daughter who he's been hiding from me! =)

ahahaha, it was so funny reading that story because you kept exclaiming how weird it was that someone else was named B. Johnson. I know you said names were changed but oh the irony! (I have a B.Johnson across the street from me!) You could have spiced it up and said B.Hagenstriderstein or something! Now THAT would've been weird! hehe. On a more serious note I hope she does find her father and that was very nice of you to call her back and offer to help.

My dad once had at least three other people in the same town with his same name, first and last. The trick was the spelling. We had an E at the end, and most of the others did not. We are British spellers... on my honour. Ha.

One of the men in my hometown with dad's same name was way older. My dad's friend was trying to call dad, and got the other man. They spoke for almost an hour, before the other guy finally shared his confusion, and dad's friend laughed, and said, "I was just having fun talking with you. Do you happen to know my friend? Can I get his number?"

I agree with Niki that the moving father needs a kick! That is cruel. I feel for the girl who has lost the relationship she so much needs.

Oh, I would have been spooked! Why did her father left her in the cold, I wonder. And she must have been heartbroken when "Tracy" denied that "her father" was around. Seems like drama have been going on! I hope she finds her dad soon, though.

There is another guy with the same name as my dh living in the Wichita area. We got a call just the other night looking for him.

The first time I realized Danny had a name double was 16 years ago. I was checking our number in the new phone book to make sure they'd gotten it right. The weirdest thing about it was that the guy must have lived in the trailer park next to the apartment complex we were living in at the time. (MacArthur Park Apts, if you're familiar with that seedy joint.)

We've had problems over the years because this other guy never pays his property taxes and has possibly had some run-ins with the law. For five years in a row we had a hell of a time getting our tags for our car renewed because the DMV wouldn't believe Danny was not the other guy--even though they have different middle initials and (duh) different s.s.#s

I finally met the man and his family when we were doing a sign up for Young Marines. He told me his name (I was helping people get registered) and I said, "So *you're* the other Daniel_______." It must have scared him off because they never came back for another meeting. Probably a guilty conscience.

I have an unusual last name but sure enough google shows another with the same name. For a bit of unusual irony my father and his brother both married Brenda's and with the same last name they were always being confused.